The Great Gildersleeve
by Entertainment Radio
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About
The Great Gildersleeve was a radio situation comedy broadcast in the United States from August 31, 1941 to 1958. Initially written by Leonard Lewis Levinson, it was one of broadcast history's earliest spin-off programs. The series was built around Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a regular character from the radio situation comedy Fibber McGee and Molly. The character was introduced in the October 3, 1939, episode (number 216) of that series. Actor Harold Peary had played a similarly named character, Dr. Gildersleeve, on earlier episodes. The Great Gildersleeve enjoyed its greatest popularity in the 1940s.<br /><br />The show was set in Summerfield, Ohio, and followed the life of Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, a retired pharmacist who was now the water commissioner of Summerfield. Gildersleeve was a pompous and opinionated man, but he was also kind-hearted and well-meaning. He was often at odds with his housekeeper, Bertha, and his niece, Marjorie, but he loved them both dearly.<br />The G